Conversations with Foroozan Shirghani

Today we’d like to introduce you to Foroozan Shirghani.

Hi Foroozan, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I always took pleasure in being alone and creating things with my hands, whether it was stitching, gluing, or drawing since I was a child. Despite my deep passion for the arts, I was unable to attend an art school and instead was compelled to study mathematics in high school. However, I quickly realized that it was not where I belonged. So when I was accepted into an art university, I was overjoyed to finally have the opportunity to pursue an academic career in my true calling.

Leaving my family in Shirvan and relocating to Tehran, the bustling capital city of Iran, was a major turning point in my life. Studying in the midst of the country’s dynamic cultural and artistic community and having easy access to cinemas, theaters, concerts, galleries, and major bookstores expanded my art perspective. Every day, I was driven by an insatiable desire to learn more about art until I discovered the transformative power of drawing. Through drawing, I learned how to express my emotions and thoughts. Gradually, drawing became a gateway to my creative potential. I have vivid memories of the days when I used to go to my friend’s studio with a tube full of drawing papers and spend hours sketching in front of a live model. Often, I would discard most of the drawings or save only a few. However, these experiences helped pave the way for me to explore different mediums such as sculpture, installation, video, painting, and more.

Since then, I have been showcasing my work in numerous exhibitions both inside and outside of Iran.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Art has never been an easy path for me. It’s a journey that encompasses a wide range of learning and knowledge and is closely related to many fields of study. It’s a journey of constant discovery, questioning, and doubt. Perhaps it’s the fluidity and uncertainty of educational resources that make this path challenging, unpredictable, and of course, always surprising. It’s a challenge that reminds me every day that I still have so much to learn and discover. Regarding my experience in the visual arts, I can say that I have always enjoyed the challenge of constantly creating and destroying and vice versa. This process is a way to discover, recognize, and innovate which gives meaning to my life.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
After completing my MFA from Alzahra University, l presented my work in many exhibitions and began teaching painting and drawing at two art universities. Teaching was one of the most rewarding experiences I had during those seven years, as it allowed me to learn and discover more. In 2015, I immigrated to the United States, where I continued to create and showcase my works in many group exhibitions. Currently, I am showcasing my work in my first solo exhibition in the US entitled, Alienation at ADVOCARTSY Gallery in West Hollywood, which will be on view until April 29th. In this collection, I explore the theme of alienation – expressing constantly changing, fragmented lives. The figurations in this collection are an allegory to social pressures and psychological traumas caused either by the endless drudgery of work or by dysfunctional social structures. Alienation is usually an inevitable consequence of these bureaucracies and leads to distortion and deformation of human personality and life. The exhibition will close with an art talk on April 29, 2023 at 3pm in collaboration with Fowler Museum.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think experience and living in nature make a person risk-taking, and I had the chance to grow up in a risk-taking family and to spend many days of my childhood and adolescence in nature and on my father’s farm. Taking risks is the opportunity and the possibility of encountering unknown events and phenomena in life despite its outcome. For me, discipline and risk-taking are two contradictory aspects, but at the same time, they are highly overlapping or complementary.

In terms of my experience in the visual arts, I tend to gravitate toward mediums and stages that offer the potential for risk-taking and spontaneous encounters. Capturing and documenting these fleeting moments in intuitive layers is incredibly valuable and thrilling for me. That’s why, at times, I intentionally undermine the strengths of my work. This act of destruction not only leads to learning and growth but also prevents me from sacrificing the potential for exploring other aspects of the work for the sake of preserving the strong parts.

Furthermore, I believe that the greatest risk I have taken in my life was immigrating to a new country. Though it was a difficult and consequential decision, it resulted in a noteworthy accomplishment – self-discovery and the experience of confronting the unknown aspects of my origins and identity.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.foroozanshirghani.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVFFRI2oY16/?utm_medium=copy_link
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/foroozan.shirghani
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/foroozan-shirghani-b5150669

Image Credits
Reza Khodayar ADVOCARTSY Gallery